Earthquake jolts northeast, 8 dead, over 100 injured

3 years ago

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News24 Bureau

New Delhi: People of northeast and parts of West Bengal woke up to a start on Monday morning to a massive earthquake bearing 6.8 on the Richter Scale which left at least eight dead and over 100 injured.

Manipur, which was the epicenter of the quake, saw maximum destruction. Buildings fell like a pack of cards, houses and roads developed huge cracks sending shock waves among the residents at 4:36 am.

According to the Indian Meteorological department, the earthquake was centered at Tamenglong district, in Manipur; government officials further elaborated it to be at Noney village in Tamenglong around 35 kms from Imphal.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said, "Damage to a few buildings, residential units and government offices have been reported, including damage to a six-storey building in Imphal.”

The tremors were also felt in adjoining areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal, an official of the seismological centre in Meghalaya said. Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, too were shaken by the impact.

Power installations in Imphal suffered damages leading to a massive power outage. The Central government decided to send two teams of engineers from Power Grid Corporation to Manipur to assist in restoring the supply.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed via tweet that Home Minister Rajnath Singh was in Assam to “oversee the situation”. He also said that an NDRF team has been instructed to move to the areas affected by the quake.